Remembering the Past, Building for the Future

22 June 2012, 1:02 pm

Earlier this year, we wrote an article about a Texas couple who came to us in the design stage of their project, looking to rebuild their wood home after an unfortunate fire had burned it down. This Possum Kingdom, Texas log home had been a gathering place for family and friends over the years, and Susan and Russ wanted to recreate that retreat once more, but this time with the traditional appeal of timber framing and the customization capabilities of PrecisionCraft.

Now, with the date of the couple’s home completion drawing near, we sat down with Susan to ask her a few questions about this experience and what they are most looking forward to.

Susan, Possum Kingdom Timber Frame Home Owner

What drew you to PrecisionCraft?

After the fire we knew that we wanted to rebuild, but we did not want to try and recreate exactly what we had, we wanted to do something different. Russell is a big admirer of beautiful wood, and had looked at Timber Frame homes before. We were drawn to PrecisionCraft right from the beginning. When Mark Camper, our regional sales representative, answered the phone, we could tell they were genuinely interested in our situation. Calls we had made before to other dealers did not receive such a warm and helpful response.

Were you able to design and modify the plans for your home to get exactly what you were looking for?

Working with Mark and Celeste, our designer, was a wonderful process. We wanted to use the same floor plan for the most part, so having lived in the home before; we knew what worked and what needed improvement. We made one trip to Boise where we talked about how we would take our original plans and a PrecisionCraft plan and modify them to create a design that was completely our own. After the initial meeting in Idaho, all subsequent meetings were made over the phone with live computer viewing of the plans and changes. By doing this, it allowed us to be aware and involved in all of the changes.

How has your experience been thus far?

The experience has been beyond what we expected. When we built our log home the first time, we paid the company their money, they gave us the plans and materials and we never heard from them again. With PrecisionCraft we have had just the opposite experience. They have been our partners in the project every step of the way. They have provided feedback to us and our builder when we have had questions, and they have been interested in seeing the project through to completion—something we did not have before.

What are you looking forward to the most about your new custom home?

This is a hard question to answer because there are so many things that we look forward to. One of the first things I look forward to is to open the door and smell the rich scent of wood that’ll come from our timber frame home. Beyond that, we look forward to the making of new memories with our family and friends. Before, our lake home had been a retreat, not just for us, but also for hundreds of friends and family members over the years. These friends have brought so much into our lives as we enjoyed many good times, good fellowship and the beauty of nature together and we hope to bring back this experience for them.

Anything else you would like to add?

Fire is nature’s way of rebuilding, and for us, building this timber frame home has been our way of remembering what we had and building something even better for the future. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to share our experience with others.

Russ and Susan’s home will be shown on June 23rd to a select group of couples who are ready and interested in building a log or timber frame dream home in Texas. For more information on how you can take part, contact Mark Camper today.